NYC to replace circumcision rule with herpes-education program for Orthodox Jews

New York City officials say they’ve reached an agreement with ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders, as the city will scrap a rule that required a consent form for the oral suction circumcision ritual in exchange for a program to boost awareness of its risks.

City health officials
said 17 cases of infant herpes since 2000 have been connected to
the traditional Orthodox practice of sucking blood from the
circumcision wounds of infants’ penises.

According to the tentative agreement, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
administration will ask the city Board of Health to waive a rule
-- instituted by his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg -- that asked
mohels to obtain written consent from parents and guardians
signaling they knew the risks of oral suction circumcision before
the procedure.

In exchange, De Blasio’s administration called for the coalition
of rabbis and medical experts to lead an information-education
program in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community regarding the
potential health dangers of the ritual, known as metzitzah b'peh
in Hebrew.

If an infant contracts herpes after a circumcision, officials
will appeal to the coalition, asking they identify the mohel who
performed the procedure so he can be tested for herpes. If he’s
found to be responsible for the infection, he would then be
banned from conducting the traditional ritual. If that rabbi does
not prove to have herpes, health officials would attempt to seek
the source. Orthodox leaders have said they will cooperate with
rabbi identification.

Orthodox mohels, though, have said they follow strict medical
safety, including herpes testing, hand sterilization and rinsing
with mouthwash before the circumcision ceremony.

New York City mohels perform more than 3,000 ritual circumcisions
annually, according to the Associated Press.

A Board of Health vote on the agreement is expected in June.

The mayor’s office said it is about protecting children while
respecting religious rights of a community that often practices
their beliefs in private.

"Increasing trust and communication between the city and this
community is critical to achieve the administration's ultimate
goal of ensuring the health and safety of every child and this
new policy seeks to establish a relationship based on engagement
and mutual respect," the administration said in a statement.

City officials have conceded that enforcing the agreement is next
to impossible based on the private nature of the Orthodox
community.

The loose consent form rule introduced by the Bloomberg
administration only produced one signed consent in recent years,
as rabbis have urged their communities not to comply.

Of the 17 infant-herpes cases found since 2000, two were reported
in 2013 and four were reported last year. Families of the infants
declined to name four of the six mohels, and the other two
refused to be tested, according to the city health department.